I'm looking for some LM317t's and I have found some that are around $7 made by Ti (http://www.amazon.com/Linear-Voltage-Regulators-ADJUSTABLE-piece/dp/B00MMY22CG/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&qid=1433279480&sr=8-10&keywords=lm338)and other placves I can get 10-20 for that price, but they seem to be generic Chinese like this:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/20PCS-LM338...58661&pid=100338&rk=11&rkt=29&sd=191231559551

Is there anything that I should be aware of before ordering such as tolerance differences and or build quality that may be known by you guys who have dealt with these items for a while now? Thanks

 

It's difficult because you do hear stories of fake semiconductors coming out of China.

If you are just messing about with electronics as a hobby then they are probably worth a punt. If you have a specific project in mind and reliability is a must then personally I'd pay a little more from a reputable supplier like Mouser, Farnell, Radio Spares, etc.

 

It's difficult because you do hear stories of fake semiconductors coming out of China.

If you are just messing about with electronics as a hobby then they are probably worth a punt. If you have a specific project in mind and reliability is a must then personally I'd pay a little more from a reputable supplier like Mouser, Farnell, Radio Spares, etc.

Thanks. I know that some things the generics are pretty much just as reliable as the originals but when it comes to IC's I'm not to much of an expert ATM and was just wondering. Thanks again.

 

I'm looking for some LM317t's and I have found some that are around $7 made by Ti (http://www.amazon.com/Linear-Voltage-Regulators-ADJUSTABLE-piece/dp/B00MMY22CG/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&qid=1433279480&sr=8-10&keywords=lm338)and other placves I can get 10-20 for that price, but they seem to be generic Chinese like this:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/20PCS-LM338T-LM338-Adjustable-Regulator-IC-NEW-J81/400820871342?_trksid=p2141725.c100338.m3726&_trkparms=aid=222007&algo=SIC.MBE&ao=1&asc=20141212152715&meid=32ee43318ed74ca39e69050523a58661&pid=100338&rk=11&rkt=29&sd=191231559551

Is there anything that I should be aware of before ordering such as tolerance differences and or build quality that may be known by you guys who have dealt with these items for a while now? Thanks

The amazon price seems high. Check the price on real electronics distributors like www.digikey.com or www.mouser.com.

digikey LM338: http://www.digikey.com/product-search/en?x=15&y=12&lang=en&site=us&keywords=LM338T

so around $2 each for the LM338. Now the amazon link you provided is for a LM338 which is 5A, the LM317 you were asking
about is lower current and should cost less.

http://www.digikey.com/product-search/en?x=0&y=0&lang=en&site=us&keywords=lm317t

So $.70 to $1.85 for the LM317T at digikey. And if you ordered a higher quantity :

http://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/LM317TG/LM317TGOS-ND/918508

less than $.21 each in quantity 1000. So those China prices might be reasonable as they could be
dealing with thousands of them (they could still be counterfeit or otherwise bad...).

 

Now the amazon link you provided is for a LM338 which is 5A, the LM317 you were asking
about is lower current and should cost less.

Thanks for the reply! I know I quoted the smaller 317, but I found that there wasn't much difference between the price of the 17 and the 38 for the most part and I already had the page and link copied when I was writing - lazy I guess...